Manchester end drought
with Trophy success
Mark
Woods
Manchester Giants have ended a decade's
wait for silverware success, overcoming a brave Derby Storm by 90-69 in
the final of the 1999 Uniball Trophy at the NEC.
In the end, the predictions of an overwhelming
margin of victory in favour of the Mancunians came true but their eventual
result came only after a spirited showing from the short handed East Midlands
side.
Storm started the game the better with
the opening nine points of the night 
before
the Giants hit back with seven of their own, trailing by one point entering
the second stanza. Giants took their first lead of the evening early in
that period and with Ronnie Baker (right) quickly adding up four of his
record equalling five scores from three point range, Derby's short rotation
looked to hold on.
Until the half-time, they succeeded with
a single point lead but it did not last, a 13-2 third quarter run giving
the favourites an eight point lead and once it was complemented by a 17-4
burst in the closing quarter, the massive travelling support from the north
west of England knew the night was theirs.
Leading all scorers was Tony Dorsey with
28 points but MVP went to Baker, his 21 point haul lauded by victorious
coach Nick Nurse.
"He deserved it. If he had not made some
of those three pointers early on, it could have been a lot uglier in the
first half. He really carried us in that first quarter. Dorsey did a hell
of a job too."
Derby, in their first major final, were
led by Joel Burns who notched up 20 points ahead of Nate Reinking who had
16. Their coach Bob Donewald was magnanimous in defeat.
"We gave it a shot - the best shot we could,"
he commented. "You can't fault them. Maybe we could have been a little
tougher-minded and stayed in the game for longer in the third quarter."
